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Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sentenced to 6 years in prison

May 13, 2014

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday for his conviction on two counts of bribery in the Holyland corruption case.

Tel Aviv District Court Judge David Rozen read out Olmert’s sentence on Tuesday morning and fined him 1 million shekels ($290,000). In March, Olmert was found guilty of accepting bribes when he served as mayor of Jerusalem, in exchange for helping the developers of the city’s Holyland Park residential project.

Olmert, who stood quietly in the courtroom with his head bowed, said he will appeal both the verdict and the sentence to the Supreme Court.

"A public servant who accepts bribes is akin to a traitor," Rozen said in his opening statements.

Ahead of the sentencing, Rozen praised Olmert and said he is "an impressive and very intelligent man who knows how to convince others. He is a respectful man who made a large contribution to the country." However, he condemned Olmert’s offenses and described them as "noxious,"adding that "Olmert’s crime is of moral turpitude."

"Olmert took advantage of his position as a public servant, and accepted massive amounts of money, as detailed in the conviction," Rozen said. "This is a man who was on top of the world – he served as prime minister, the most important position, and from there he reached the position of a man convicted of criminal offenses."

Olmert, ahead of the sentencing on Tuesday morning, released a statement: "This is a sad day in which an unjust and severe sentence is expected to be handed down on an innocent man."

Olmert had denied wrongdoing in the Holyland apartment complex deal, as well as other corruption allegations that forced his resignation as premier in 2008.

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The maximum sentence handed down for comparable bribery offenses is a seven-year prison term. The prosecution was seeking at least six years for Olmert.

The ruling related to seven of the 10 individuals convicted in the Holyland case, which concerns bribe-taking in the development of Jerusalem’s controversial residential project: Those who bribed – Hillel Cherney, Avigdor Kellner, Meir Rabin and Danny Dankner – as well as those who took the bribes – Uri Shitreet, Ehud Olmert and Eli Simhayoff.

Cherney, owner of the Holyland complex, who was convicted of bribing Jerusalem officials, received three and a half years in prison and a fine of 2 million shekels. Kellner, one of the founders of "Holyland Park" company, who was convicted of bribery charges but acquitted of other offenses, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 1 million shekels.

Rabin, right-hand man to state witness Shmuel Dechner, who was also convicted of bribing Jerusalem officials, was sentenced to five years in prison. Shitreet, Jerusalem’s former chief engineer, who was convicted of receiving bribes, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Rozen ordered all those sentenced to appear before the prison service on September 1.

The prosecution asked Rozen to sentence Olmert to at least six years in prison for accepting a 500,000-shekel ($144,000) bribe on behalf of his brother, and two to four years in prison for taking some 60,000 shekels ($17,000) in bribes to cover his personal expenses. The prosecution said there could be some overlap between the sentences.

“The defendant is not a symbol,” prosecutor Yonatan Tadmor said, quoting from the judgement in the case against former president Moshe Katsav, who is in prison for rape and other sex crimes. “The fact that the defendant served in the highest position does not serve as immunity for him in the face of punishment as for all people. The opposite.”